Etana - I Rise (VP Records)

'I Rise' opens with a cover of 'Selassie Is The Chapel', recorded by The Wailers in 1968, but already a gospel hit for The Orioles as 'Crying In The Chapel' in the nineteen fifties and it is also that vibe that Etana evokes with her interpretation of the song. 'Selassie Is The Chapel' isn't the only cover on 'I Rise' though, as Marcia Griffiths' 'Stepping Out Of Babylon' also gets an update. We were most taken by 'Ward 21 (Stenna's Song)', not an ode to the eponymous dancehall formation, but a song in which Etana relates of a certain Stenna, a "ghetto youth" unequipped to deal with the pressure and stress of his existence, making him end up in ward 21, the mental health ward at the Kingston University Hospital of the West Indies.

For 'I Rise' Etana joined forces with veteran producer Clive Hunt. He not only provided the album with a solid roots-sound, but also made sure Etana was surrounded with a lot of good folk (Sly & Robbie, Franklyn 'Bubbla' Waul, Noel 'Skully' Simms, Sherieta Lewis, Kirk Bennett, Danny 'Axeman' Thompson...) and because these days not everyone purchases a physical copy of an album anymore and Etana still wanted her fans to know who collaborated with on/for 'I Rise', the album ends with 'Jam Credits', a musical acknowledgement to all musicians and technicians who lent a hand. 'I Rise' is finally that Etana-album yours truly had been hoping for: rootsy and occasionally even dubby ('Ward 21 (Stenna's Song)', 'How Long'), solid songs with conscious lyrics and, to finish it off, Etana's great voice.